


The City Burns With Me

by Honeywhisker



Series: Whumptober! [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Elements from the game, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-24 22:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16184849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honeywhisker/pseuds/Honeywhisker
Summary: Noctis stays behind for the peace treaty and Niflheim gets everything it could want from the Fall of Insomnia.





	The City Burns With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Soo no super duper proud of this but I liked the idea and wanted to try something different. For day three of whumptober: Insomnia and where I think I'm clever for using a twisted meaning of it.

When the news came in from Niflheim Noctis was skeptical. He had no faith that the other kingdom would keep their word. Really, he had no doubts that they were planning on the peace gathering getting them through the Wall. When his father tried to send him away that only confirmed it. If his dad thought there was no threat he would have insisted Noctis stay for the proceedings. As it was, he insisted on staying anyway. He claimed it would be good for him to be there both for Lucis and for the gathered Niflheim party. When the council agreed his father had no choice but to relent. Extra security was added for the event, the Kingsglaive being retired for the day as Regis pulled it from them in the name of the coming peace. Crownsguard instead lined the signing room, Cor insisting they would make for a better immediate defence to any threat. 

So here he stands, the chair closest to his father and the table with the long awaited treaty. So far nothing had gone wrong and it was making his skin crawl. Every time he looked up he would see Iedolas staring at him. Noctis gently shook himself before turning to watch as his father and Aldercapt approach the signing table. He could see the cameras focusing in on the two leaders and could almost hear the cheers of the people outside the Citadel as they celebrated the end of a centuries long war. 

So when Aldercapt start talking he knew there was trouble in the air. With more magic between him and his father now that the Kingsglaive had been unofficially disbanded, he could feel it in his veins when his father drew on the Crystal. The lightning in his father’s hand almost sparking him to draw his own. Others in the room noticed the tension and suddenly the room was full off too much energy with no outlet. 

Then the explosions started. They rang out at the base of the Citadel, shaking the structure and giving the Emperor enough time to draw a gun from under his robes. Noctis had a moment to lament that Niflheim couldn't be better and go through with peace after all these years but another part of him was ready. His father snapped his hand out to meet the gun pointed at his chest, the extra energy letting him summon his Armiger in its full glory. Gone were the weak images of royal weapons that could only maintain form for a few seconds. This Armiger swirled around the King in a vibrant blue, the soul shards glinting in the light as the room froze. Regis had the Niflheim forces at swordpoint but even royal arms could only do so much against a bullet.

“So, this is the power of the Crystal.”

There were still cameras rolling and Aldercapt looked utterly uninterested in anything but the Lucian royals. He held eye contact with the king he just threatened in his own kingdom. Thankfully, the explosions had died down around the Citadel and the Wall still stood. 

“The power you have been hoarding and hiding away behind that cowardly Wall of yours.”

Noctis resisted the urge to cradle his head in his hands but he suddenly felt a headache sparking behind his eyes. The pain almost made his vision white out as he swayed on his feet. Thankfully Iedolas was still gazing upwards, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room. He slowly lifted a hand, not enough to spur any of the Lucians into action but enough to make them jumpy. 

“I want to see that Power of Kings you claim to have.”

With that he let his hand fall and a red haze came over the room. Noctis collapsed as the pain im his head became almost all consuming. He saw the blue flash of his fathers Armiger disappearing before Clarus took charge of the Crownsguard to have them form up around Noctis. Clarus stood by the King’s side even as both royals shook with an unknown pain. At same time a great blast came from overhead, glass shattered around them as the beam of concentrated energy that fed the Wall was stopped. The Wall surrounding Insomnia quickly fell. 

“The wonders of technology never will cease to amaze me. Our Wallbreaker Wave. It negates Lucian magic.” The Emperor walked closer to the King but at the tip or his Shield's sword stopped a few steps from the man. A smirk marred his face however and regardless of the Crownsguard in the room or the live news feed he simply looked to one of the shattered windows, where Magitek soldiers were dropping out of ships and even climbing in from below. 

Just like that, the world devolved into chaos. Crownsguard and council members alike were slaughtered easily by the metal soldiers, though that's not to say Lucis didn't kill a few Niflheim ambassadors as well. It was the arrival of General Glauca that finally put Clarus down. The man had been cutting through Magitek troops like training dummies but Glauca was too strong to take on alone. 

Noctis could see him pinned to the wall of the room like a butterfly on display before his vision was filled with grey armor. A swift kick to his side had him skidding across the floor before his back collided with an upturned chair. A gasp escaped him and he took a moment to open his eyes. 

What he saw was Aldercapt standing over his father with the Ring of the Lucii flickering between his fingers. Noct dearly hoped the man would put it on. Iedolas devered the wrath of the Lucii for what he had done today. He came in under the pretense of peace to steal the Crystal and Ring. Either way both were useless alone. 

“We have confirmation that the Crystal is on its way to Gralea?” At General Glauca’s nod he smiled. “Good. With the Ring as well we just need the last piece.” 

Noctis was shaking his head in a vain attempt to get rid of the pulsing headache when suddenly Aldercapt was in front of him. He wasn't kind when he grabbed the Prince’s hair and forced his head up to meet his eye. Noctis could see a faint reflective glow that meant his eyes were alight with pent up magic.

“Bring the Prince. We only need one of them alive for the Crystal to work.”

The Emperor released Noct’s hair and walked away. Thumping boots walked away from Jim as well and it was between the pain the Wallbreaker Wave was giving them that he saw Glauca pull his own sword. Wordlessly he tried to scream but no sound could make it passed his throat. Instead he met his father's eyes one last time and tried to remember what they looked like when they weren't in agony. Noctis turned his head away as the sound of a blade. He was almost thankful he couldn't feel his magic, that he wouldn't have to feel his father's fade from the Crystal. After it all he finally gave up when he felt Glauca haul him up into his arms and into the open mouth of a waiting Imperial ship.


End file.
